Tolai language
Tolai | |
---|---|
Kuanua | |
Tinata Tuna | |
Native to | East New Britain Province |
Ethnicity | Tolai |
Native speakers | (61,000 cited 1991)[1] 20,000 L2 speakers |
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | ksd |
Glottolog | kuan1248 |
The Tolai language, or Kuanua, is spoken by the
Nomenclature
This language is often referred to in the literature as Tolai. However, Tolai is actually the name of the cultural group. The Tolais themselves refer to their language as a tinata tuna, which translates as 'the real language'. Kuanua is apparently[clarification needed] a word in Ramoaaina meaning 'the place over there'.
Characteristics
Unlike many languages in Papua New Guinea, Tolai is a healthy language and not in danger of dying out to Tok Pisin, although even Tolai suffers from a surfeit of loanwords from Tok Pisin; e.g. the original kubar has been completely usurped by the Tok Pisin braun for 'brown', and the Tok Pisin vilivil for 'bicycle' has replaced the former aingau. It is considered a prestigious language and is the primary language of communication in the two major centers of East New Britain: Kokopo and Rabaul.
Tolai lost the phoneme /s/. For instance, the word for 'sun' in closely related languages of South New Ireland is kesakese, and this has been reduced to keake in Tolai. However, /s/ has been reintroduced through numerous loanwords from English and Tok Pisin.
Classification
Tolai belongs to the
Geographic distribution
Tolai is spoken on the Gazelle Peninsula in the East New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea.
Derived languages
Tolai is said to be one of the major
- aibika (from ibika) - Hibiscus manihot
- buai - 'betelnut'
- diwai (from dawai) - 'tree, wood'
- guria - 'earthquake'
- kawawar (from kavavar) - 'ginger'
- kiau - 'egg'
- lapun - 'elderly person'
- liklik (from ikilik) - 'small'
- umben (from uben) - 'fishing net'
Grammar
Phonology
Phonology of the Tolai language:[2]
Labial | Alveolar | Velar | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n
|
ŋ | |
Plosive | voiceless | p | t
|
k |
voiced | b | d
|
ɡ | |
Fricative | β | s | ||
Liquid | rhotic | r
|
||
Lateral | l
|
|||
Semivowel | (w) |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High
|
i | u | |
Mid | e | o | |
Low
|
a |
Vowel sounds can also be realised as [ɪ, ɛ, ʌ, ɔ, ʊ]. /i/ can be pronounced as [j] in word-initial position.
Independent pronouns
Tolai pronouns have four
Singular | Dual | Trial | Plural | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | exclusive | iau (I) |
(a)mir (he/she and I) |
(a)mital (both of them, and I) |
avet (all of them, and I) |
inclusive | - | dor (thou and I) |
datal (both of you, and I) |
dat (all of you, and I) | |
2nd | u (thou) |
(a)mur (you two) |
(a)mutal (you three) |
avat (you guys) | |
3rd | ia (he/she) |
dir (they two) |
dital (they three) |
diat (they) |
The plural pronouns lose their final -t when used before a verb.
- Da vana! - 'Let's go!'
- Pa ave gire. - 'We didn't see.'
- Dia tar pot - 'They have already arrived.'
Syntax
The usual word order of Tolai is
Morphology
There is an irregular pattern involving the prefix ni-, which changes a verb to a noun. Ordinarily, the prefix is added to the verb, as in laun 'to live' → a nilaun 'the life', ian 'to eat' → a nian 'the food', aring 'to pray' → a niaring 'the prayer'. However, in some cases it becomes an infix ⟨in⟩: varubu 'to fight' → a vinarubu 'the fight', tata 'to talk' → a tinata 'the language', mamai 'to chew betelnut' → a minamai '(a small supply of) betelnuts for chewing'. This infix is inserted after the initial phoneme of the verb. It could also be described as the prefix ni- being added as a prefix, and the initial phoneme of the verb changing places with the n of the prefix.
Notes
- ^ Tolai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ISBN 0-88312-207-3.
References
- Mosel, Ulrike (1984). Tolai Syntax and Its Historical Development. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. ISBN 978-0-85883-309-8.
- Curzon Press.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg/40px-Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg.png)
- Tolai Language Course
- Language Museum page on Tolai
- A number of collections in Paradisec include materials in Tolai